McXal's Reviews

This week Saturday Night At Center Stage's semi-main event of Marty Scurll vs Bandido is our feature bout. It was a cracker that came close to stealing the live show, so I'm sure will make for strong television as well. We'll also have more build up to Death Before Dishonor, and an exclusive bout for TV as Rhett Titus meets Shaheem Ali. Quinn McKay and Ian Riccaboni welcome us to Atlanta, GA.

Ian and Quinn can't help but smile as they take us to Nashville for highlights of the Rock'n'Roll Express' brave challenge for the ROH Tag Titles at Honor For All 2019. Ultimately the Briscoes were too powerful for them, but it was a fun match and a smart inclusion on the TV show.

Marty Scurll hypes himself up for the main event, albeit with a vapid promo which doesn't mean much at all. He has 'nothing to hide' apparently, and will show us why by beating Bandido. That line hasn't aged well.

We discuss Kelly Klein's dominant tenure in Women Of Honor, which meant that it was an incredibly rare occurrence in Atlanta when a match brought together two of the three women who actually have pinned The Gatekeeper. Highlights of Angelina Love's victory over Sumie Sakai are shown (with Kelly herself on commentary to call the action).

Kelly Klein gets some promo time and demands that Angelina Love 'name a time and a place'. She'll put her title on the line and plans to put Love out of ROH...

Shane Taylor apparently has a TV Title defence against Flip Gordon and Tracy Williams at Death Before Dishonor. No matter what is going on between those guys, he plans on continuing his dominance as Television Champion.

Rhett Titus delivers an interview from what appears to be his child's bedroom. He reflects on the truth behind some of Kenny King's words in Philadelphia

Neither of these men are happy with their current spot. Titus has been in ROH for more than a decade, has held the Tag Championship...but now struggles to get booked and is mostly wheeled out to pose in his speedo and do some commentary. In 2018 Ali and his partner LSG went on an impressive undefeated streak, but haven't found success so easy to come by this year and have become frustrated and angry figures on the undercard. Last week we saw Kenny King show some support for C2C though, in a manner not dissimilar to the way Austin Aries started to mentor Kenny himself in All Night Express years ago. But is King really interested in helping C2C, or just using them because he wants Ali to beat Rhett here?

Titus starts very impressively, demonstrating his grasp of fundamentals and controlling the match as Ali gets more and more annoyed. It's almost three minutes in before Shaheem is able to get in a real offensive move, and when it doesn't win the match he loudly chastises the referee through sheer frustration. Belly to belly suplex by Titus, followed by a slingshot northern lights for 2. He goes for broke and looks for a pescado...but Ali catches him with a NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX ON THE FLOOR! Frog Splash back in, only for Titus to kick out at 1 - almost causing Shaheem to lose his sh*t. He tries another frog splash but misses and eats canvas, then gets blasted with Yakuza Kicks by Rhett. Cyclone kick gives Titus the win at 06:58 (shown)

Rating - ** - This was a fairly enjoyable, punchy little match. It won't win any MOTYC awards but I thought it was smartly wrestled, with an incredibly easy to follow and relatable story. You didn't need to have seen anything ROH have put on TV this year to get that you were watching two frustrated guys with a lot to prove, putting it all on the line trying to step over each other on the way up the card.

Matt Taven bemoans Rush shaving his head in CMLL, but actually thanks Rush because he thinks that was the moment that lit the fire that led him to the World Title. He isn't the same Taven that Rush beat in Mexico and will prove it by ending Rush's undefeated streak at Death Before Dishonor.

NEXT WEEK - Lifeblood's Haskins and Bandido face Villain Enterprises' Scurll and King, with the winners receiving a Tag Title shot at Death Before Dishonor.

This is one of the big money matches in the feud between Villain Enterprises and Lifeblood. Bandido has been a breakout star for ROH in 2019; signed from under the noses of AEW and stealing shows in ROH rings all year. One of his highest profile defeats, though, came at the hands of Flip Gordon at War Of The Worlds Buffalo...which is particularly pertinent after the events of Best In The World when Gordon stabbed Lifeblood in the back to become 'The Mercenary' of Villain Enterprises. Flip has barely wrestled since BITW due to injury, so tonight Bandido is looking to inflict a devastating defeat on the leader of the Villains instead. This takes place a day before a (scheduled) Six-Man Title Match for Lifeblood, so Bandido may also be looking to soften Scurll up ahead of that. The winner of this clearly also moves towards the front of the line to challenge for the World Title too.

The crowd is hot for this, and split in their allegiances meaning both competitors get vocal support before the bell. It means both men start the match full of bravado and spend much of the early going playing to their fans rather than wrestling. Scurll wants to keep his opponent on the ground as you might expect, and has some smart counters for much of the luchador's trademark sequences. In return, he is surprised at Bandido's ability to grapple and trade holds with him, and we go to a stalemate. The Villain pokes the eyes in an effort to get ahead, only for Bandido to tag him with a superkick which knocks him to the floor. Apron Superkick by Scurll, which he celebrates by going into the crowd and stealing a replica ROH World Title belt to pose with. He stomps Bandido's arm into the canvas, grinding the match to a halt and starting to soften up the luchador for his finishing move. Bandido tries a press slam...but Scurll can slither away due to the damaged arm. TORNILLO instead by Bandido, then a tilta-whirl backbreaker to send Marty to the floor. RUNNING MOONSAULT TO THE OUTSIDE! 21-Plex blocked with a Roaring Elbow and the HALF NELSON SUPLEX by Scurll. It further exacerbates Bandido's shoulder-injury, which Scurll makes worse with the GHOSTBUSTER for 2! Black Plague blocked...but Marty boots the arm from under Bandido when he tries to escape The Villain by performing a handstand. Bandido tries to build up a head of steam...so Scurll nails him with another half nelson suplex. Bandido NO SELLS and smashes Scurll in the neck with a diving knee strike! Fatigue is starting to set in, which they compound by leathering each other with a series of vicious chops. Bandido chases Scurll up the ropes, but The Villain blocks Revolution Fly. BUCKLE BOMB! X-KNEE! Marty gets his shoulder up at the last moment on the ensuing pin. 21-Plex blocked, Chickenwing blocked...RED STAR PRESS by Bandido! He takes Marty to the top rope and nails the REVOLUTION FLY! That's how he beat Marty in Philadelphia (albeit through a table), but this time he is too injured to capitalise. CHICKENWING! Bandido rolls out...straight into a lariat. PACKAGE PILEDRIVER by Marty! BLACK PLAGUE! Scurll wins at 18:51

Rating - **** - The scary thing about this is that they definitely had a better match in them. This was exciting, intense and fought in front of a great crowd - full of Spanish-speaking Bandido fans making for a great atmosphere. They had some really smart, logical ideas too; Scurll trying to ground Bandido and injure the arm, whilst the luchador looked to use his speed and strength to blast through The Villain. But none of those themes were explored in enough detail for my liking. I wanted to see more of Marty using his British style to keep Bandido grounded. I wanted to see more arm work to increase the drama on that Chickenwing at the end. The Revolution Fly spot was great; spectacular in its own right but a callback to the Philly Street Fight as well...but they didn't let that moment breathe at all. I don't believe we'd ever get to see a singles rematch between these two unfortunately.

Tape Rating - N/A - Bandido and Marty was a great TV match. Unlike Champions vs All-Stars last week, editing it for TV didn't detrimentally impact the momentum or flow of the action at all. This episode also featured by far the best 'TV exclusive' thus far in Titus vs Ali. As I keep saying, I'm completely on board with this new format at the moment. It does reduce the significance of the TV show and put more of the product behind a paywall (which in the long-term isn't a great idea) but right now it has meant live shows have improved and we're getting to see more promos and character development on television than at any other time under Delirious' booking.